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Spiders steal the show in Tomás Saraceno's installations

Two tropical tent-web spiders, one labyrinth spider, one dome web spider and a domestic house spider made Arp87

Brett Moen

This article was first published in the August 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online

Tomás Saraceno loves cobwebs. The Berlin-based architect turned artist builds installations inspired by intricately woven spider silk. Take his current project in development, which he will show in Germany at the end of this year. "Imagine a huge web that people can play with their bodies," says the 41-year-old Argentinian.

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For his recent Hybrid Solitary... Semi-Social Quintet... On Cosmic Webs series, Saraceno collaborated with the spiders themselves. "I experimented with different breeds weaving webs together," he says. For each sculpture, a solitary spider was placed inside a Plexiglas box or on to a frame, where it would begin to spin its web. The largest piece, constructed by two spiders, a colony and a solitary giant house spider, took 18 months to complete.

He also rotates the boxes to change the critters' sense of gravity. "It's to rehearse for the weightless environment," he says, "We are going to send spiders to the International Space Station where they will try to weave. We're going to turn them into spidernauts." Watch out, Spidey -- there's a new web-slinger in town...

This article was first published in the August 2015 issue of WIRED magazine